A Commission working to heal the 1000 year old rift between the Orthodox and Catholic Church has announced the Pope has primacy over all bishops - but the lines are still blurred as to what the Holy Father’s authority entails.The Associated Press reports that the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue reached the agreement during talks in Ravenna, Italy last month.
Pope Benedict said a “fundamental priority” of his pontificate is to heal the split of the two denominations.
The Commission agrees that Rome occupies the "first place" in canonical order of the ancient seats of bishops — including Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem and that "the bishop of Rome was therefore the 'protos' (first in ancient Greek) among the patriarchs."
“However, they disagree on the interpretation of the historical evidence from this era regarding the prerogatives of the bishop of Rome as 'protos,'" the Commission's document stated."
While the fact of primacy at the universal level is accepted by both East and West, there are differences of understanding with regard to the manner in which it is to be exercised, and also with regard to its scriptural and theological foundations," the document continued.
The Commission also concluded the role of the Pope — in communion with other churches - must be studied in greater depth.
The meeting was the second since the Catholic-Orthodox theological dialogue resumed in 2006 after breaking off for six years.
The meeting was marred at the start when the delegates from the Russian Orthodox Church walked out over a territorial dispute with a rival Orthodox church.
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